The Eastern Conference Class A tournament may as well be the Tri-Valley League playoffs, with all four teams league teams, and that probably means there will be three great football games.
Tri-Valley beat Line Mountain 21-14 in the regular-season meeting of the teams, and Line Mountain head coach Rodney Knock says he and his players are looking forward to a rematch. He also thinks his team is better than when the Eagles faced the Bulldogs the first time.
"This group has worked really hard this season," Knock says. "They're not the most physically talented bunch but they're a good group and for them to have a chance at finishing with a winning record and an Eastern Conference championship would really be a springboard for next season. We have a large senior group and a lot of underclassmen, too."
The Eagles got a big boost last week from freshman C.J. Reichard, who caught three touchdown passes from Ryan Reed in a win over East Juniata. Reichard was injured in the first game of the season and was seeing his first significant action since.
"His athleticism adds another dimension to our offense," Knock says. "Defensively, he can cover anyone in the league as a freshman. He and Ryan have a trust factor with each other. Kenny Boyer is playing well, and our offensive line has been playing a lot better."
Boyer wasn't much of a factor during the first half of the season, but has come on strong since, with 603 of his 722 yards in the past five games. He has averaged almost 24 carries per game during that stretch.
Reed adds 597 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground, in addition to his 986 yards passing.
The Eagles will have to stop Tri-Valley quarterback Hunter Harner first and foremost. Harner has only completed just more than 30 percent of his passes for 366 yards, but he is the Bulldogs' leading rusher with 827 yards and eight touchdowns. Throw in running back-linebacker Anthony Snyder (118-633) and Tri-Valley has a solid running game.
"Harner was able to get out on us on the option in the first game. Our defensive tackles were getting pushed a little bit and our linebacker got caught in the wash a little bit," Knock says. "We've gotten a lot better since then."
Snyder and defensive back Jaden Buchanan throw some big defensive numbers at opponents. Snyder has 130 tackles and Buchanan has 11 interceptions. Danny Scheib (88 tackles) and Hunter Herb (83 tackles) complement Snyder nicely, and Harner also has four interceptions when he plays defensive back.